Current mood:

pleased

Title: Cosmo's Return
Author/Artist: Cosmo990 ^^
Pairing: Let's see... So far just Cosmo and Tails but there will be more later such as Sonic and Amy and yada yada
Fandom: Sonic X
Rating: G/PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Cosmo, Tails or any of the characters in Sonic, nor do I claim to own them. They all belong to Sega. Not me, Sega. The story is mine though so please don't steal ^^.
**** **** ****

Cosmo found herself in a pure white abyss after sacrificing herself. She felt warm and at peace, her eyes shut gently.
"I saved everyone... I guess... this is how its going to end... I'll be with my sisters..."
"Cosmo..."
"Cosmo!"
"Cosmo."
"Cossy!" She opened her eyes to the sound of her sister's voices. She could see their sillouettes waiting to greet her.
"Sisters..." She raised her hand slightly towards the eldest. She smiled at her little sister and pushed her hand away gently. Cosmo stared.
"It's not your time, Cosmo..." said the brown haired flower being. The green haired one folded her arms.
"Mother's going to give you another chance, Cossy."
"Because you did such a noble deed." Said the rose colored one. The blue colored one approached Cosmo, smiling.
"And I believe someone's waiting for you..." She pressed a single finger to Cosmo's forehead, and the last thing she saw was her sisters waving goodbye as a sillouette of a tree appeared behind them.

*****************
(Cosmo’s Death - 1h 25min. ago)

The Egg Crimson/Blue Typhoon mess of a hybrid ship was slowly drifting back to Earth after the final battle against Dark Oak. Inside, it was very quiet, even in Eggman’s part of the fused piece of machinery. Chris was still checking through the ships systems to make sure everything stayed safe and stable until they landed, Knuckles was in the control room with the now shattered Chaos Emerald, Amy sat in her part of the control panels, still holding a tissue to her eye. Cream was in the ship’s kitchen, preparing a large meal... since, like her mom, cooking helps her keep her mind off other things, but she too was crying. Sonic was outside on the ship, gazing at the stars with a serious expression on his face.
Shadow... ...
In Eggman’s part of the ship, he was gazing at the stars as well out the window, the light from the blue planet coming into view glinted off his blue eyeglasses. Decoe and Bocoe were staring as well, along with Bokkun who was shedding tears himself. Tails was in his room, his door locked. You could hear his sobs through the walls. They were all grieving over Cosmo’s death. The plant-child had given her life for all of them, and the most horrible thing was the fact that Tails was the one to take that very life from her. He was forced to pull that trigger. They yelled at him to do it. He had to do it, if he didn’t no one would be alive right now...
***************************************
“We’ll be home in another hour or so...” Chris spoke softly, putting his section of the control panels on stand-by. Amy wiped her eyes one last time before standing.
“Where are you going Amy?” he asked.
“I’m gonna go outside with Sonic...” Amy quietly made her way towards the ship’s exit, rubbing her left arm and keeping her gaze to the floor. She made her way onto the Blue Typhoon’s surface, dragging her feet as she walked up beside Sonic. He kept his gaze in front of him, staring at their planet as they drew closer and closer to it by the minute. “… I’m gonna miss her…” Amy whispered.
“Yeah… but Tails is going to miss her more than any of us will.” Sonic said sternly, folding his arms securely over his chest.
“You think he really loved her…? I mean more than just as friends?” He nodded.
“Tails may be young, but what he felt towards Cosmo was nothing but love. Just because he’s an eight year old doesn’t mean he can’t experience feelings that teenagers can.” Amy stared. Sonic sounded so serious; she’d never seen this side of him before.
“And plus, I think this experience has made him mature a lot. Making a complex spaceship, building far more advanced weapons than what he was making, falling in love, losing a loved one… I think Tails won’t be doing anymore growing up any time soon.” Amy smiled and looked to their planet.
“… it’s really pretty.” Amy gasped softly when something gripped her hand. She looked down to see Sonic’s own holding hers; their fingers laced.
“Yeah it is pretty, isn’t it.”
***************************
(Cosmo’s Death - 2hrs. 34min. ago)

As soon as they landed, everyone began to go their separate ways for the night. Amy went back to her hut, dropping off Cream at her house on the way. Sonic said his goodbye’s to Tails and him and Chris went back to his place, Knuckles simply nodded towards everyone and took the shattered M. E. back to Angel Island that almost immediately took to the air. Soon, Tails was left alone, since Eggman decided to detach his ship and fly back to his base. He looked to his battered ship, his left hand clenched tightly around the seed Cosmo left behind. Tails sighed heavily and stepped in, shutting down everything besides the dorm area of the ship.
“At least I have something… to remember you by…” he murmured. Stepping into his room, he noticed the pot he had sat on his night stand. It was on the ground, all the dirt spilled out of it. He and Cosmo were planning on planting something in it once they had gotten back home.
“… Well, we can still do this much…” Tails smiled sadly, looking to the seed in his hand. He knelt down and began to scoop up the dirt and put it back into the pot, all the while tears fell down his cheeks.
“Even... if you’re not here... I can still do this with you in a way... right...?” Tails murmured between whimpers.
“I-I wonder what kind of seed it is... A daisey...? A rose...? Or maybe even ...a tree...” He had gotten all the dirt he could get back into the white porcelain pot, scarce amounts still scattered about on the floor. He stuck one finger into the dirt, making a hole and dropped the seed inside, burying it. Tails’ small form was trembling, tears flowing like waterfalls down his face.
“Why...? Why did it have to be you...?” He looked to his hand, guilt rushing over him.
“And why did I have to pull that trigger... Why... why did I have to kill you, Cosmo...? I... I...!” Tails broke down there on the floor, sobbing loudly and shaking. He curled into a ball, holding the pot close to him.
“I’m sorry...! I’m sorry...!” He repeated over and over again to the immature plant, a few of his own tears falling into the plant’s soil; quickly absorbed. Before long, Tails had cried himself to sleep, cradling the pot in his arms, unshed tears still lingering on his eyelashes.
*****************
“DAMN IT!” Dr. Eggman screamed, kicking over his chair. Decoe and Bocoe stared in shock.
“What is wrong, Doctor?” Decoe asked, tilting his gray head slightly.
“Yes, what is wrong? You hardly if ever swear. Not to mention, aren’t you happy about how this turned out?”
“No I’m not you idiot! I am sick and tired of having to be allied with that hedgehog whenever things get rough. It’s just like the time we defeated that BioLizard. I should have left them to the Metarex...” He said darkly, his glasses glinting dangerously. Decoe gently rested his hands on Dr. Eggman’s shoulders.
“M-Maybe you just need a good night’s rest.”
“Get off me!” Dr. Eggman screamed, knocking the robot away with surprising strength. Bocoe immediately went to Decoe’s side, Bokkun was hiding behind Eggman’s desk, too afraid to say anything or move for that matter.
“I’m going to get rid of that hedgehog once and for all.” Eggman said, looking to his desk. Bokkun immediately scrambled away, hiding behind the two ‘older’ robots.
“And with my Grandfather’s notes, I know just how.”
********************
(Cosmo’s Death - 2 D. 13hrs. 34 min.)
It had been two days since Sonic and the others returned home. Their home was once again at peace, but the others knew it wouldn’t last long. Chris was busy in his room at Sonic’s place, trying to build a device so he could go back home. Sonic was out on a run as usual, waving to familiar people and speeding from village to village. Chris wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, looking down at the schematics of his new invention.
“Well, I have the basic part of the job done. Now all I need are the materials...” He looked out the window, staring at the sky.
“I don’t want to leave, but I’ve been here for so long that mom must be gray from worry.” An image of his beautiful movie star mom having gray hair came to his thoughts. Chris laughed.
“I’ll be home soon mom, dad, grandpa, Danny...” He stopped short as a certain blonde came to mind.
“... Helen.” Through out this entire adventure, he had completely forgotten about her. He could already feel his heart sink, thinking that maybe she had moved on.
“... I’ll return home then catch up with her. I never realized how much I missed her until now... Dah,” Chris slapped his forehead.
“How could I have been so stupid?”He sighed and folded his schematics into a small square and slipped them into his pocket.
“Well... I guess I’d better go ask for some supplies from Tails. I hope he’s doing a little better today.”
*****
Sonic had stopped in an unfamiliar village. It consisted mainly of mobian hedgehogs, cats and a few mobian insects. He smirked.
“Might as well get to know the people here.” He waved to a few, and they waved back happily. A couple of the younger ones were playing a game of tag; Sonic held back a chuckle as he watched one trip over his own shoe lace and was ‘it’ again.
“Hey, you!” He looked over his shoulder to see a young peach-tabby calling towards him.
“Me?”
“Yeah you! We’re trying to get as many people to watch Izzy race the fastest boy in the village!” Sonic scratched the bridge of his nose.
“Sure.” He followed her through a small grove of trees before they came to a field. About twelve or so were there, a couple of them looking to be as old as Cream’s mom, Vanilla. He took note to the two who were standing at a red line. One was a burly looking black cat with orange eyes. He was stretching his legs and looking too confident for his own good.
“Is that Izzy?” Sonic asked, nudging the peach-tabby.
“No,” Came a voice from behind him.
“I am.” He turned to see a light, almost white, blue female hedgehog. She was dressed in a white no sleeve shirt and khaki shorts wearing similar sneakers to Tails, only they were yellow and white. Her eyes were a lovely lavender shade, glinting with mischief and innocence. Her spines were pulled back into a pony tail on top of her head, a few hanging down in almost Amy’s spine fashion. Sonic stared.
“Just who is this, Melissa?” The peach-tabby shrugged.
“I called him to watch you race. I think he’s new, I’ve never seen him around before.” Izzy walked up to Sonic and held out her hand.
“The name’s Isabella, but just call me Izzy.” Sonic grinned, shaking her hand.
“Nice to meet y-”
“Hey, Izzy!” Called the black cat deeply, annoyed.
“Are we going to see who’s the fastest in the village? Or are you going to go back to your dolls and teacups?” Everyone around her, save for Sonic, Melissa and the adults laughed. Izzy felt her eyebrow twitch.
“Okay, Bronc let’s get this race started!” Izzy walked up to the starting line, both her and Bronc taking their positions.
“Get ready...!” Melissa shouted, holding her arms up.
“GO!” She threw her arms down and Izzy and Bronc sped off. Sonic whistled.
“They’re pretty quick.”
“Of course they are, all those two ever do is run.”
“Really?” Melissa nodded, smiling.
“Now we see who’s the fastest.”
****
Izzy and Bronc were neck and neck. They were just about to come to the turn when Bronc reached into his vest, pulling out a small stick.
“See you at the finish line!” He said laughing, tossing the stick in front of her.
“Huh!?” Before she knew it, Izzy’s feet became tangled with the stick and she tripped, falling flat on her face. She looked up just in time to see Bronc make the turn.
“CHEATER!” She screamed, getting back onto her feet and gaining speed, catching up to him in a matter of seconds.
“Heh...! I have to admit, you’re pretty good for a girl!” Izzy glared.
“I’m not just good...!” she suddenly pulled ahead, just as they came to the finish line.
“I’m the best!” And she won. Bronc glared as everyone cheered for Izzy. Giving the hedgehog one last look, he left the field. Melissa looked around until her eyes fell upon a rose bush. Sonic watched as she ran over to pick one. He frowned slightly, the roses reminded him of Cosmo...
“You were great, Izzy!” Melissa cheered, handing her the rose.
“Eh, it was nothin’, Mel.” To rid his mind of memories he’d rather not remember at the moment, he got an idea.
“Hey, Izzy. I’m the fasted guy around,” Sonic said proudly, folding his arms over his chest. Izzy grinned.
“Funny, you don’t look very fast.”
“Oh trust me, I am. And I challenge you to a race, Isabella.” He said tauntingly using her full name.
“Fine! Bring it newbie!” The two lined up at the starting line. Sonic had his hands on his hips, giving Izzy a cocky look out of the corner of his eye. She did the same in return.
“Get ready...!” Melissa said, raising her arms again.
“GO!” Before Izzy could get even a foot away, Sonic had already made the turn and was coming back. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring in disbelief.
“No way...” She murmured just as Sonic returned.
“Hey, why didn’t you run?” She glared.
“Show off!” Izzy exclaimed, stomping off. Sonic blinked.
“What’d I do?”
“Hurt her ego. Plus, I don’t think you guys’ race was very fair.”
“And why’s that.” Melissa pointed to Izzy’s leg before she was out of sight.
“Her leg was hurt. I bet Bronc tried something during their race.” Sonic raised an eyebrow.
“Hm...”
*************
Amy was walking down the road towards Cream’s house, humming softly to herself.
“I wonder how Tails is fairing...” She said to herself, looking down.
“He was a wreck back on the Blue Typhoon.” Amy walked up to Cream’s house, knocking on the door. Vanilla answered, greeting Amy with a warm smile.
“Hello, Amy. Nice to see you, how are you today?”
“I’m fine, Miss Vanilla.” Amy said cheerfully.
“I bet you want to talk to Cream. Hold on, I’ll go get her.” Vanilla opened the door completely, letting Amy step inside as he walked up the stairs. Amy sat down on the couch quietly, waiting for Vanilla to come back with Cream.
“Cream, dear. Amy’s here to see you...” She heard her call.
“Okay...” Amy smiled.
“Sounds like she was taking a nap...” Vanilla came back down the steps, Cream following behind her, rubbing her eye. Cheese was tagging along too, looking tired as well.
“Mm... Hi, Amy.” She said tiredly.
“Hey, Cream.”
“You two chat while I go fix us some tea and cake.” Vanilla said heading into the kitchen. Cream took a seat beside Amy, her feet dangling off the edge of the couch.
“How have you been, Amy?”
“Fine. Listen, Cream. I have an idea, and it’s about Tails.” Cream immediately perked up at this.
“Is he alright?”
“I dunno, I haven’t seen him since we came home. So I was thinking, why don’t you and I bake him something. Like your famous strawberry cream cake you gave us on the Blue Typhoon.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Amy!” Cream exclaimed. Cheese looked lost, still tired.
“Let’s get started!” They went into the kitchen to get to work. Cheese simply plopped down onto the couch’s pillow and fell back asleep.
***********************
Chris and Tails had spent that afternoon building mechanical parts for his invention. To Chris’ relief, Tails did seem better since the battle. He seemed to be acting as if nothing ever happened. The flower pot sat on Tails’ work desk, a small green seedling already sprouting in it.
“Hey, Chris?” Tails called, ceasing his constant tweaking on a circuit board he was making for Chris’ invention.
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to come back? I mean, once you leave...” Chris thought for a moment.
“Of course I will, Tails. It may be another year or two, but that’s only two months here in your world.” Tails smiled.
“Yeah you’re right, I shouldn’t worry so much.” Chris looked to the plant on his desk.
“... So you planted the seed she left you...” Tails looked down.
“Y-yeah. What else was I supposed to do with it?”
“... Are you really alright after all this, Tails?”
“...”
“...” Suddenly, there was a knock on the Typhoon’s door. Sighing in relief, Tails went to go answer it.
“Hello?” Amy and Cream were standing there, smiling. Cream held her strawberry cream cake, and Amy held an apple pie and brownies.
“Hi, Tails.”
“Hey, Amy. Hey, Cream. Come on in, Chris and I were just working on a few things.” Tails led them to the sitting area where Chris was already waiting.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he’s making a machine that’ll take him home.” Cream frowned.
“You’re going back home so soon, Chris?”
“Well, it’s not as soon as you think.” he said, scratching the back of his head in nervousness.
“It’ll take me a little while before I can have it up and running. But don’t worry, it won’t be long before I come back. Remember one month here is a year in my world.”
“So that means he’ll be back soon, even if he won’t be back for a year or so.” Amy chimed, placing her dishes on the table, Cream following suit.
“Wow, this looks good. Is this the strawberry cream cake you made while we were in space?” Chris asked.
“Mmhm. Tails liked it so much so I decided to make some, but I guess it could be for everyone since we’re all here.”
“Same goes for my pie and brownies.” Tails grabbed one of the brownies, stuffing it into his mouth.
“Out of everyone, I think Cosmo liked my cake the be-” Amy clasped her hand over Cream’s mouth, but not in time for her to stop her before she mentioned Cosmo. Tails looked down.
“Yeah, she did like it, didn’t she...” Cream looked at him sadly as a small tear slipped down his cheek.
“Oh, Tails...”
*************
(Cosmo’s Death - 2 D. 17hrs. 45min.)
Sonic had spent the rest of the day in the newly found village, exploring it from head to toe. His real reason for looking the village up and down was so that he could find Izzy and apologize. Soon, he found himself at a ledge, where he saw Izzy sitting quietly, swinging her legs over the edge.
“Found you.” She looked over her shoulder.
“Took you long enough, and you call yourself the fasted thing around.” Sonic shrugged and took a seat next to her, taking note of the bandage on her left leg.
“...So, you hurt your leg huh?”
“Yeah, Bronc tripped me with a stick and this is the result.” She said, laughing softly.
“God, he’s such a jerk.”
“And I kind feel bad for not noticing before I challenged you. Oh, and um... sorry for embarrassing you.”
“Eh, it’s alright. But how did you learn to run that fast?” Sonic scratched his head.
“Hm, I don’t remember. I guess I was born with it.”
“Cool.” Izzy looked to him.
“Hey, I never caught your name.” Sonic smirked, his green eyes flashing in the setting sunlight.
“My name is Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog.” she giggled. He blinked.
“What’s so funny?”
“You just sound all super hero-like when you say it. Like you’re some kind of Super Hedgehog~!” she said. Sonic made a face. Izzy stood carefully.
“Well Sonic, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we can race again sometime.”
“Sure.”
“Okay. See ya, blue wonder.” She said, walking off. Sonic smiled after her.
“... Wait, “blue wonder” ?” He repeated. Shaking his head, he stood and ran off back towards his own home, a warm feeling in his heart.
*********
Eggman knocked over a few of his tools in his laboratory, growling angrily.
“If I go by my grandfather’s notes, it will take too long. I need something that will enhance this...” he looked out the window, arms behind his back.
“Hm... I could speed it up by having a test subject and combined it with mechanics. But those mechanical parts need to be strong, but manipulative...” Just then, Eggman noticed a bright star in the sky.
“Hm?” The star grew brighter and brighter, and a few more began to do the same. Before long, Eggman noticed that they weren’t stars, but falling objects. He immediately left his lab and ran outside, ignoring the cries of Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun. As soon as he set foot outside, a flaming object landed in front of him. It was small, small enough for him to put it out with his foot. The others fell to the ground as well. Some large, some small. When he lifted his foot, he realized it wasn’t a meteor. It was...
“A computer chip. It must be a piece of the Metarex.” He bent over, picking it up in his hand. Eggman looked around to all the other flaming pieces, realizing they were either chips, parts or bits of armor. He grinned evilly.
“I found just what I needed.”

< * EDiT * >

************************
(Cosmo’s Death - 1w. 1d. 12hrs. 35min. ago)

Days passed smoothly for Sonic and his friends. Amy and Cream visited Tails frequently, mainly just to check up on him, but nothing drastic had happened besides him shedding a few tears or so. Chris had developed a fourth of his machine, managing to put up the base and calculating how much Chaos Energy it would take to get him home and revert him back to his real age. Knuckles, well, he stayed the usual. Quiet, angry and always guarding that Master Emerald that still lay in pieces, but gradually rebuilding itself. The red echidna smiled up at the sky.
“Outer Space was a nice experience, but it felt great to come back home...” He murmured, watching a butterfly flutter by.
“Well, well, well. Lounging about and guarding the emerald as always. You’d think you would change after the Metarex battle.” Came a seductive voice. Knuckles cringed, he knew exactly who it was.
“I thought I told you to stay away from my emerald, Rouge.” He snapped, sitting up and glaring at the lovely bat before him. Her appearance changed. She now wore, instead of the skin tight leather body suit, a plum colored skin tight body suit, leaving her shapely legs exposed down to her knee where her boots started. Her boots were completely black, a large pink crystal heart at the ankle where some sort of power strip lead from to the top of the boot. Her gloves were still white, but had pink rings at the ends instead of them being folded and she wore pink eyeshadow.
“Oh now don’t be like that, Knuckie. I’m just here to pay a friend a visit.”
“Hmph, whatever.” Rouge took a seat beside him, crossing her legs.
“So, the emerald’s still shattered?”
“Yep.”
“It looks like it’s repairing itself though.”
“Uh-huh.”
“...You’re a moron.”
“Ye- Hey!” He sat up, glaring at her.
“What did you call me that for!?”
“Because you’re not even paying attention to me!” Rouge shouted, placing her hands on her hips.
“SO?!”
“I’m sort of talking to you, you inconsiderate jerk!”
“Hmph. Why would I wanna listen to a thief anyway?” Rouge glared, his comment hurt her a little.
“So you only see me as a thief? Even after I helped you!?”
“You did more harm than help you know.”
“Hmph. Fine!” She swiftly flew into the air, but not before snatching up an emerald shard.
“COME BACK HERE!” Knuckles shouted, chasing after her.
****************
“Ah, it’s nice to finally take a break...” Tails yawned, stepping outside of his home, stretching his arms. Since his home was now on the beach, the area was nice and peaceful.
“Chris must have decided to take the day off, he didn’t come by to work on his machine today. Hm... Oh, right! I almost forgot!” Tails ran back inside, grabbing a small cup and filling it with water.
“I forgot to water the plant today.” The seed had grown from a seedling to a miniature tree in no less than a week, to Tails’ surprise. As he went to water the plant, he gasped. The plant’s leaves were all entirely brown and starting to fall off, it’s thin branches shriveled and brittle.
“Wh-What happened?! I kept it watered and in the light! So why is it...! M-Maybe some sea water will fix it...!” Quickly, Tails grabbed the plant and ran outside, only to be confronted by...
“Knuckles?!”
“Hey, Tails. I don’t have time to chat,” he said, an emerald shard in hand. Tails backed away from Knuckles a little, cradling the dying plant gently.
“You haven’t seen Rouge flying about have you?”
“N-no, Knuckles… Why?”
“Because she stole my damned emerald shard!” Tails laughed nervously, but sadly as Knuckles picked up.
“Still sad about Cosmo, huh?”
“No, it’s the seed, well… tree she gave me.” He held it up to him. Knuckles frowned.
“It doesn’t look very healthy.”
“It’s dying fast… I thought that maybe some seawater would help it but-” suddenly, an idea struck the young fox.
“Knuckles?”
“Yeah?” “Can I break off a smaller shard from the emerald shard you have there?” Knuckles frowned even more.
“Tails…” he said warily.
“If I just give the plant one shard then maybe it’ll come alive!”
“I can’t.”
“But…! I can’t let this plant die! It’s the only thing she left me to remember her by, Knuckles!”
“I’m sorry Tails, but I just can’t do it! You know how strong the emerald is!”
“Exactly! That’s why I need a small shard to make sure this plant doesn’t die! Cosmo wanted me to take care of it! And I’m not…!” Tails sniffed, tears coming to his eyes.
“And I’m not about to let her down…! Not again…! Do you understand me…?!” Knuckles grew nervous. He wasn’t good at dealing with people who needed comfort. He gently placed his large hand on his friend’s shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“Um… Don’t cry. I guess I can give you a small shard for the plant. But when I need to put the emerald back together I take it back. No matter what, understand?” Tails nodded, giving him a watery smile.
“Thank you Knuckles…” Knuckles placed the emerald between his first finger and his thumb and broke off a small shard, and handed it to Tails.
“Let’s see if your idea works.” He nodded and took the shard, gently slipping it into the soil. Almost instantly, the plant absorbed it.
“What the-!?”
“Look, Knuckles…!” Tails said happily as the plant’s leaves returned to a lush green and it’s branches thickened with nourishment. The plant even grew a little… then a little more and a little more…
“That thing’s growing out of control!” Knuckles exclaimed.
“I told you this was a bad idea, Tails!” Tails, unable to bare the plant’s weight, dropped it to the ground. The pot shattered, and the tree began to take root. It was at least three times it size when it finally stopped growing.
“Wow…” said Tails, in complete awe. Knuckles folded his arms over his chest.
“Well, looks like I’m not getting the shard back now~” he said, very annoyed.
“Great, first a bat takes a shard then a plant eats another. Oh crap! That darned Rouge…!” Knuckles, without saying goodbye, took off again in search of Rouge. Tails didn’t even notice, all he could do was stare at the tree in wonderment. It looked like a miniature Ever Green now. The only difference was that the leaves glistened. Raising an eyebrow at this, Tails stood and plucked a small leaf off the branch.
“… It’s crystal…” He said softly, holding the piece of, now, jewelry in his hand. Tails laughed happily, completely overjoyed.
“It turned out even better than I thought!” After leaping into the air, he settled down and looked to the sky.
“See, Cosmo…? The plant’s doing fine… I… I only wish you were here to see it too…” Tails looked down, happy but painful memories returning. Carefully placing the leaf into the sand, he went back into his home and closed the door behind him. Tails trudged his way back to his room and flopped onto his bed. He sighed.
“No matter how hard I try to be happy… I just get sad again…” He turned his head towards his night stand, seeing a flipped over photo. He picked it up, and took a good look at it. It was the picture they had taken aboard the Blue Typhoon before it was turned into his beach house. When everything was perfect for him and Cosmo; when everyone didn’t have a care in the world. Right in the middle, he and Cosmo stood. She had her hand on her cheek, blushing. Looking as shy as can be. He was standing next to her, his hand resting on his hip and smiling at her, while the others stood around them. Cream giving Cheese a present, Amy holding onto Sonic’s arm, Charmy and Espio dog-piling on Vector while Knuckles and Chris stood in the back laughing.
“… Why did you have to die, Cosmo…” Tails whimpered. He clutched the photo in his hand and curled into a ball, his Tails wrapped around him.
“I was going to show you around here on Earth… you were going to have a new home… a new family with me, Sonic and the others…! And then you…! Why did you have to be the hero…?!” he sobbed. Tails sobbed himself to sleep as he clutched the photo tightly.
**************************
(Cosmo’s Death - 1w. 2d. 3hrs. 27min. ago)

Later that night, Tails awoke, staring up at the ceiling.
“I must of fallen asleep…” he murmured as he turned onto his side. He looked to the clock beside him, which read three-twenty seven in the morning.
“Maybe I should just stay up now… It’s not like I’m going to go back to sleep anyway.” Tails climbed out of bed slowly, the photo he held onto slipped from his fingers and onto the floor as he left the room. Tails headed into the kitchen to make himself something to eat, when he noticed a bright light that came from his window.
“What the...?” He looked out the window and noticed that the light was coming from the tree. And that it was growing again.
“!?” Tails ran outside after he saw the glowing emerald light coming from the tree. The tree was fully grown now, at least five times the size it was before! He walked up to it caucously. In the center of the tree’s trunk, there was a seam in the center, slowly opening.
“Wh-What the…?” The trunk opened wider and wider, until it revealed a glowing ball of energy that slowly began to take form. Tails’ eyes widened as the ball of energy began to take the shape of
“C-Cosmo…?” The light died down, revealing it to be indeed Cosmo. She was curled into a ball, sleeping peacefully. Tails couldn’t believe it. He fell to his knees, shaking slightly.
“Please let this not be a illusion…” he whispered, crawling over to her still form. Tails reached out and stroked her hair, trailing down to her cheek.
“… I-it is her…! I …! How…? …!!” Tails pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.
“You came back…! You came back…!” Tails cried into her hair, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. He stayed like that for a minute or so before he calmed down. Tails gently lifted her into his arms and carried her back into his house and into his room. He lied her down and pulled the blankets up under her chin. Cosmo breathed softly, a peaceful expression on her face.
“I… I can’t believe that this happened…” He murmured and knelt down beside the bed. Tails held her hand in his tightly.
“I have you back… it shouldn’t be possible but…” Tails rested his head on the bed’s edge, closing his eyes.
“I missed you… wake up soon…” and he fell asleep continuing to hold her hand.
**************************
Eggman sat secluded in his laboratory, a sadistic grin plastered onto his pale face.
“Almost complete… Soon with these new nano-bots that I will inject into my super clone, will enhance it’s powers beyond comparison thanks to the Metarex technology. All I need… is to copy some ‘data’ before I find my test subject.”
Amy yawned as she laid sprawled on her backyard’s grass. It was one in the afternoon, and she had absolutely nothing to do.
“I’m bored…” She said sighing.
“Sonic’s been running off before I can even go to his house to say hi for a minute or so. I wonder where he’s been running off too.” She sat up, stretching.
“Oh well. Cream said she would be busy with her mom today so I guess I’ll go visit Knuckles. But I can’t even get to the island without-” suddenly, from her back door, she heard her phone ring.
“Maybe it’s Sonic calling to ask me out on a date!” Amy all but ran back into her house and picked up the receiver and placed it to her ear.
“Hello~?”
:Hi, Amy. It’s Tails.:
“Oh,” Amy said, disappointed.
“Hi…”
:Something wrong?:
“No, I was just hoping it was Sonic. But I was going call you anyway.”
:Oh?:
“Yeah, maybe you could take us both to visit Knuckles.”
:I saw him yesterday. Um… Amy?:
“Yeah, Tails?”
:…Can you come over? There’s something I need to tell and show you. It’s important.:
“Oh, sure.”
:Then afterwards I can take you to see Knuckles, okay?:
“Okay then, I’ll be at your house soon.”
:Thanks Amy. Bye.:
“Bye.” Amy placed the receiver down gently.
“I wonder what he wants to tell me… Maybe he’s going to show me the plant. I guess… he’s still not over poor Cosmo…” Amy pondered as she locked up the doors and prepared to leave.
*****************************************
“See ya, Sonic!” Izzy waved. Sonic flashed his trademark grin before speeding off, leaving the village. Melissa grinned up at Izzy, a sly look in her eyes.
“Sonic’s pretty cool, huh~?” Izzy nodded.
“Never met anyone like him before.” Melissa’s grin grew wider.
“Is that so~?”
“Yeah, he’s even helping me become faster.”
“Uh huh~” Izzy’s sweet expression turned annoyed.
“What are you getting at, Mel?” The peach-tabby started to skip away.
“You like him~!” She said, laughing and giggling.
“H-Hey! I do not! Get back here, Mel!” The cat disappeared behind the bushes.
“Mel~! You know I can catch you!” Izzy pushed passed the bushes and saw her friend as she stood in the middle of a clearing.
“Mel?” her friend didn’t move. Izzy’s eyes widened when she saw that Melissa was shaking.
“Mel?”
“L-look…” Melissa pointed to the air. Izzy looked up to see a large hover craft looming over them.
“Wh-What the-!?”
:THIS AREA WILL NOW BE DESTROYED.: came Eggman’s voice over the craft’s audio systems. And all Izzy remembered was her hugging Melissa tightly before there was a white light. Then nothing.
******
Amy briskly walked up to Tails’ door, hands folded behind her back.
“I wonder what’s so important he wanted to tell me.” She said to herself, knocking gently.
“And I wonder where Sonic is?! He’s been going out every afternoon before I even get the chance to see him!” Amy shouted and placed her hands on her hips.
“Darn that hedgehog…” The door finally opened, revealing a very tired looking Tails.
“Thanks for coming, Amy.”
”You okay Tails?” He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah, I just kept waking up during the night that’s all.” He said as he stepped aside and allowed her to walk inside.
“So, what’s this ‘important thing’ Tails?” He led her to the lounging area where they sat down on his couch.
“… Cosmo’s alive.” Amy blinked then saddened.
“Tails… she’s gone. You of all people should know this. You…” Amy swallowed hard.
“Were the one who pulled the trigger, remember…?”
“yes, I remember! But she’s alive! You saw that tree in the front right?!” He shouted. Amy reared back a little.
“Uh, yeah… It had a huge-… you don’t mean to tell me that she came out of that tree? And where did that thing come from?”
”Believe it or not, it’s the seed she left behind…” Amy sighed and folded her arms over her chest.
“If this is so, then show her to me. Where is she, Tails?” Tails stood and motioned for her to follow him. She did so and he led her to his room where Cosmo still lay sleeping beneath the blankets on his bed. Amy couldn’t believe her eyes.
“… Is it really her…?” She asked and followed him as he walked up to the bed.
“Yeah…” he smiled.
“It’s her… she’s been sleeping ever since I brought her in from the tree last night.” Amy gently ran her fingers across Cosmo’s forehead. She blinked, noticing the green gem shard embedded there.
“Tails?”
“Yeah?”
“Why does she have this?” He took a closer look.
“I… I didn’t notice this.” He touched the shard himself this time.
“It must be the shard Knuckles let me have to put into the plant.”
“Knuckles let you have a shard?” He nodded.
“I was really upset because it was dying… and once the shard was in it, it immediately grew. How else do you think it grew to be twelve feet tall over night?”
“Good point. But do you think this will interfere with her at all?”
“I’m… not really sure.” Tails looked away.
“I hope not anyway.” Amy suddenly hugged Tails tightly.
“Just think of what the others will say! They’ll be so happy!” she squealed. He blushed.
“Yeah!” The two began to laugh happily. Amy nuzzled Tails’ neck and Tails just continued to laugh out of pure joy.
“Ah…” came a very soft coo from the cheering couple. Amy released Tails and he held his breath as he turned slowly. There, Cosmo’s eyes slowly opened. Instead of seeing the beautiful sapphire eyes he remembered, her eyes were now more of a bluish-green. She blinked a few times and turned her head to them.
“Cosmo…?” Tails spoke softly. After a moment, she smiled.
“Hi, Tails…” The young petalis slowly began to push herself into a sitting position, struggling a bit. Tails took note of this and helped her sit up the rest of the way, one hand rested against her back while the other just below her chest. Amy had tears in the corner of her eyes. Cosmo then smiled at Amy.
“Hi, Amy…”
“…Why you brat…!” Amy forced out, trying to sound angry. She threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly.
“We thought you died…!” Cosmo hugged her back loosely. Tails’ smile grew even wider at this.
“I’m back now…” Tails gently placed his hand on Amy’s shoulder.
“Um, Amy…? Can I speak to her in private for a little while…?” She nodded, wiping her face.
“S-sure! You guys talk as long as you want! I’m going to go get Cream and the others! They’ll be so happy!” Amy practically skipped out of the room, completely filled with happiness.
“Wow… I guess there’ll be a party here soon…” Cosmo spoke softly. Tails turned to her.
“Cosmo,” he started and took her hand in his.
“I need to know something…” Tails looked down, he almost couldn’t bring himself to say what he wanted to ask her. She gently grasped his in return.
“Yes…?”
“… Do you hate me for pulling that trigger…?!” Cosmo’s eyes widened.
“Do I… hate you…?” he nodded, tears welling in his eyes.
“I had to kill you, Cosmo…! Do you hate me…? If you do… I understa-” she gently placed a finger to his lips to silence him.
“I don’t, nor will I ever hate you, Tails...”
“But... I-” Cosmo kissed his cheek gently.
“You had to... or else no one would have survived....”
“Cosmo...” He smiled.
“Come on, I wanna show you around a little.” Tails said happily as he pulled back the blankets a little. As soon as Cosmo’s feet hit the floor, her knees gave way and she started to fall.
“Ah-!” Tails caught her easily and held her close to him.
“I’ve got you, don’t worry.” Cosmo felt a little weary.
“I’m… a little dizzy, Tails… and I feel awkward… not like before.” Tails thought for a moment before it hit him.
“It’s because of the emerald shard.” He said and tapped it on her forehead gently.
“Emerald Shard…?”
“Yeah. You see, the tree was dying so I asked Knuckles if I could have a shard so it wouldn’t die. I didn’t know that you would come from it and I didn’t know it would affect you like this.” Tails looked down, his ears pressed against his skull.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, Tails…” She said and tried to stand back up on her own, but only ended up falling back into his arms.
“I guess I’ll have to carry you.” Cosmo blushed at this and looked away shyly.
“O-okay, Tails… But I don’t want to be a burden…”
“Nonsense! You can never be a burden Cosmo, let’s go explore. I’ll take you to the Chao Garden I found a while back.”
Eggman smirked at the destruction of the village below. Almost every single living thing had been destroyed.
“Excellent. My new cannons are spectacular. Now, to find a body to extract DNA from…” Eggman left his ship aboard his hover craft and flew down below. He scanned the area, hardly finding any carcasses that hadn’t either been completely maimed or ripped to pieces.
“Hm… perhaps I went a little over board. Oh well.” He said to himself, smirking. Then, he saw the two he first targeted when he began his destruction. Melissa and Izzy. He climbed out of his craft and studied the two bodies. Melissa was definitely dead. Her back had a huge hole in it, but Izzy’s body took the pressure of the impact. The hedgehog looked like she was sleeping even, but Eggman knew her insides were completely mangled and ruptured.
“I guess I’ll have to use her body then, heh.” Eggman cringed as he pried Melissa’s body off Izzy’s and tossed it to the side. He lifted the intact body into his arms and re-boarded his craft and went back up to his ship to continue his work.
“Now, to go see an old friend with a magic stone~”
Rouge had managed to evade Knuckles all this time and sat in her cave. She tossed the stolen shard up and down in her hand, a bored look on her face.
“I kind of wish that echidna wasn’t so… him. You think he’d look for a bat where a bat would most likely be.” She sighed and crossed her legs.
“He is a bit on the absent minded side, he hasn’t even picked up that I like him.” Rouge kicked a small rock at her feet, grumbling.
“Annoying good for nothing, red big headed…” Just then, Rouge looked out the entrance of the cave and saw a huge cloud of smoke from a distance.
“What’s that…?”
Sonic, just like Rouge, had saw the cloud of smoke as well.
“That’s coming from…!”
“There’s no way she’s alive.” Knuckles said, his arms folded over his chest.
“But she is, Knuckles! I saw her at Tails’ place!” Amy said, frustrated that he wasn’t believing her. She had managed to get to the Angel Island by hitching a ride with Knuckles since he was around the area looking for Rouge.
“You both have lost it.”
“But Knuckles…!”
“Well, well, well. Nice seeing my favorite pink hedgehog and my favorite red echidna.” The two looked over their shoulders and saw Eggman in his hover craft. He grinned at them evilly.
“Dr. Eggman!”
“Hmph. Insulant, disgraceful scum. My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik. And, I have come for a few of the Master Emerald Shards.” Knuckles glared angrily.
“Like I’d let you take them!”
******************
Rouge, while she was going to investigate the smoke, arrived at the scene just as Knuckles grabbed Amy and moved out of the way of Eggman’s mechanical tentacles.
“What in the…!?” Eggman then looked over his shoulder and took notice of her presence.
“Why hello, Rouge. Come to join in on the fun?” without warning, Eggman’s tentacle latched onto Rouge and coiled around her body.
“Let go!”
“Rouge!” Knuckles and Amy cried as they watched their friend try to feebly escape her binds.
“You will be my first test subject!” Eggman pulled a lever down on his hover craft and the tentacle was instantly charged with electricity. Rouge screamed as volts and volts of raw electricity coursed through her body.
“ROUGE!” Knuckles screamed angrily.
“We’ve got to do something, Knuckles!” Amy said frantically. Rouge’s eyes suddenly went wide and she passed out, Knuckles immediately thinking that Eggman had killed her. He noticed the emerald shard she was holding fall into Eggman’s lap.
“Ah, just what else I need.” Eggman picked up the shard in his hand and it immediately became discolored. Its green luster faded into a onyx black as it pulsed menacingly.
“You sick little…!” Knuckles finally lost his cool and charged towards Eggman, fists ready to hit anything at any given moment. He was in a complete rage!
“Knuckles, don’t-!”
“AGGGHHHH!!!” Knuckles cried, just inches away from Eggman’s hover craft. Eggman’s shades glinted mischievously before he pulled the lever again, the tentacle releasing Rouge who began to fall limply towards the ground. Knuckles immediately forgot about Eggman and flew towards her and caught her in his arms.
“Rouge! Rouge, speak to me!” He called to her desperately. He shook her, hoping that she’d wake up. To his relief, she was breathing, but she didn’t wake up. He sighed then turned his attention back to Eggman.
“What did you do to her!?” “Oh, nothing really, Knuckles. A simpleton like you wouldn’t and obviously doesn’t know what I’ve done.”
“You jerk!” Amy, unexpectedly and unfortunately for Eggman, ran up behind him and slammed her hammer right onto his craft’s console.
“What have you done?! You might have jammed my system you brat!” Amy glared.
“Evil…!” Amy held her hammer high above her head.
“MAN!” She slammed it down, but Eggman dodged it, only his shoulder being harmed. In amidst of this, he had accidentally dropped the tainted emerald shard.
“NO!” Eggman ringed his hands around her neck.
“Ah-!”
“DAMN YOU!” he shouted, throwing her off his craft. She hit the ground, hard. “Amy!” The shard had fallen into the cluster of emerald shards in the center of the altar. Once it hit, all of the shards turned black and pulsed.
“What the hell...?!” The Master Emerald came together, resembling what it once looked like, save for a small chip in its side. Knuckles ran to Amy’s side, Rouge still tucked in his arms. She winced and sat up slowly as she held her head.
“Amy are you alright?”
“...” Amy nodded after a moment, her mind slightly disoriented from the fall. Suddenly, the island began to shake. The Emerald lifted itself from its resting place and levitated in the air.
“What’s happening!?” Eggman demanded, not getting a reply. As the emerald hovered in the air, it shattered once more and its shards scattered in every direction.
“The Emerald!” Knuckles cried as he watched the pieces disappear into the distance.

And then, Angel Island fell.